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Topic: Grievous' Wheel Bike Review (w/ Pics) (Read 2338 times)

I picked up the Grievous' Wheel Bike tonight at Target. It was priced at $20.

Note how the legs fold down to form sleds... Yes - it rolls, walks, and slides! Cool!

First I'll review Grievous himself...

I can't help but hope this guy has better posture in the movie...

Appearance: On the box, Grievous is a cool looking guy - but the toy doesn't really give him any justice whatsoever. Actually, what you see on the box isn't at all what you'll get once you've opened it.First off, he only has two arms here... I avoid spoilers at all costs, but I do believe he should have four arms... If I'm mistaken, that's okay, because the only real positive anyway is that his eyes are painted pretty well - you can see a touch of red skin, and a black slit in his snake-like eyes. Really, its a surprisingly good paintjob on the eyes - but the rest simply fails to impress. Simply put, Grievo is two-toned. He's got white armor (the plastic), and he's silver everywhere else. The big killer is that there is absolutely no weathering at all. This should be an easy fix for the customizers out there. A little weathering and I think he could look pretty decent.We shouldn't have to customize, though.Taking off most of the points for misleading everyone with the picture on the box. Also deducted points for having a major camel toe.Score: 3/10

Pose-ability: His hands are stuck palm-down, and they do not have a grip - so he can't wield a saber or gun. He has no elbows. He has no knees, so he won't be sitting or kneeling. He's pretty much stuck like he is, in a permanent reclined state... And the thing is, he's stuck laying down - because getting him to stand is pretty much an impossibility - his rubbery webbed feet have no heels, so in order to stand you have to put one foot in front of the other, so he'll lean sort of like an ape or something. Maybe that's how he stands in the movie - but I don't care. Two points for the waist and ball/socket head.One point for at least being able to recline in his bike.Score: 1/10

Accessory: No gun, no saber - while he is an accessory to the bike, I think he should have come with something, too.Score: 0/10

Overall: Hasbro didn't want to spend too much effort on this, that much is obvious. What disapoints me the most though is that the picture on the box is so far from what's lying inside - just a little weathering and Grievo shouldn't look so bad... Nothing can make up for the lack of articulation, though.Score: 3/10

Moving onto the actual Wheel Bike...

Vroooooom!

Assembly: The Wheel Bike came in 6 pieces - the wheel, four legs, and the cannon. The missile was packaged in a baggy with General Grievous. No stickers were included.Assembly is always difficult for me, for some reason - I have the ability to mess up assembly no matter how easy it is, no matter how clear the directions are. The bike is no exception - I accidentaly put the rear legs on backwards...Be very careful when putting the parts together, people - the only way to tell the rear from the front is by checking to see where the chair is facing. If you accidentaly put the legs or cannon on backwards, take a small screwdriver and wedge it off. Do not pull at the leg.Easy assembly, and no stickers.Score: 10/10

Appearance: This thing is mean looking... It's basically a revolving wheel with legs and a chair/cannon in the center. The legs unfold in case terrain gets too rough to roll. The wheel is really two independantly revolving wheels - lined with teeth-like treads. I wish this thing had a little weathering, but I really cannot complain here... Cool design.Score: 9/10

Features: Like I said earlier, the Wheel Bike has two independant treads - which think is really cool. This means you can spin one forward and another backward... It's cool and fun.There are 4 legs, which are best described as crab-like, I guess. Each leg has 5 points - shoulder, elbow, ankle, and toe/fingers. The vehicle's legs have the articulation that Grievo's arms should have, in short. When in 'roll' mode, the legs can fold up nicely so that the wheel itself only sits on the very tip of the elbow - you won't be able to roll this thing across the floor, though.To the right side of the wheel is Grievo's chair, which is reclined like a chopper/motorcycle - it has neat (however flimsy) immobile knobs for driving/shooting. One cool thing is that the foot pedals aren't just plain old pedals, they are made for Grievo's feet.The cannon is on the left - it has two barrels for the lasers and a missile launcher in between. The cool part about the cannon is the huge ammo clip molded into its side.I wish there was some sort of detailing or control panel or something in the center of the wheel, and I'm pissed that Hasbro used this flimsy rubber stuff for the chair. If only Hasbro had put a little weathering on this thing I would have given this baby a 9.Score: 8/10

Accesibility: This is a rough one to grade because I don't have any other Grievous figures... All I can say is that the Grievous pack-in fits just fine, the SA Clone doesn't sit so well (legs a bit too short, and the armor on the thigh prevents it from bending just right), and my battle droids sit perfectly fine. What really matters is that the pack-in fits and all of the other Grievo's fit well, too... At least from what I can tell, though, most figures that can sit with their legs outstretched should be able to drive this thing.Score: 10/10

Durability: The legs are made of solid plastic, but the joints aren't so tough... You might find your bike favors one side just a tad because of this. The bike probably won't be able to stand on its legs for too long, either...The chair is made of that really flimsy plastic that Hasbro makes guns out of, these days - which pisses me off.Other than that, it seems durable enough.Score: 8/10

Overall: This is a really cool looking toy, and it's fun to play with. It's decently priced - it won't have to grow on you, I don't think. Hasbro made a good effort to deliver a cool vehicle, and I'm pleased. I'm only really disapointed that they didn't even attempt to make a decent figure - but this is nothing out of the ordinary, really. Pick it up...Score: 8/10

I gotta say, Brad, you are a bad man. I really enjoyed your review - how is that bad, you ask? Well, my Wheel Bike has been happily stored in his box for a good 2 months now, but after reading your review, I think I'm really going to have to open it.

Obviously Hasbro did a hell of a job on this toy (we'll ignore the pack-in Grievous's shortcomings ). So I think I'll be opening this bad boy for some fun admiration as a display.

Nice Review Brad... You make me wanna pick this up actually. I stood looking at one at TRU the other night just thinking about what you'd said.

I'm pondering picking it up and replacing the pack-in with my Preview Greivous or something. My problem right now is space, but the vehicle is to-scale and that's my current criteria for picking things up. Seems well made, with lots of features that are likeable while no real bungling to make it a more appealing toy to kids... Or at least nothign that was detrimental.

My wheel bike has been standing up on his legs for a month or two without any problems towards falling or bending or warping, which is a big surprise to me because even my AT-ST's have found themselves warping and leaning to the side. I still recommend this one 100%, so long as you do something to the piece of **** Grievous that comes with it. Burn it, or something.